Redesigned 2.0 Biology

redesigned20biology - Lesson Group 1B

















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You are viewing data about the Roanoke River at three locations in North Carolina. First, click on the hyperlink below to open the data sets.

  • Click on “Roanoke River Information”. It may take a minute to fully load. If you have issues, Click Here.
  • Instructions
    • Open Google Spreadsheets.
    • Create a spreadsheet page for each location: Halifax, Oak City, and Jamesville.
      • Begin each set at 1998.
      • For each category and each year, enter the values (sampling depth, water temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen). Thus you will have five categories as such:

Year

Sampling Depth

pH

Dissolved Oxygen

Temperature (Fº)

      • For temperature, use degrees Fahrenheit instead of Celius. To convert, use the formula is Fº= (9/5)•Cº + 32
  • Answer the following questions below using your spreadsheet files.

Helpful insights from the EPA

Website: http://www.epa.gov/volunteer/stream/vms50.html
  • Temperature should be less than 25° C, or 77° F
  • pH should be between 6.5 and 8.0
  • Conductivity should be between 150 and 500 ms/cm
  • Dissolved oxygen must be above 5 mg/l. Good water has at least 8 mg/l.

Questions

1) Create scatterplots of temperature vs. year, pH vs. year, conductivity vs. year, and dissolved oxygen vs. year for each site.

Answer:


2) Of the four items, which appear to be in good condition for the health of the river. Explain your reasoning.

Answer:


3) Of the four items, which appear to be in poor condition for the health of the river. Explain your reasoning.

Answer:


4) Based upon your scatterplots, does there appear to be an improvement in the overall quality of the river? Explain why or why not.

Answer:


5) Overall, would you consider this river system to be in good condition? Explain why or why not.

Answer:

6) Embed your Google Spreadsheets below